4 ways Brexit could make your money go 10% further

Few people realize they have a chance to stretch their dollars 10% further after June 23, 2016.

Ever since the UK voted in favor of “Brexit” on that date, potential economic disaster has loomed over the UK as its leaders are forced to renegotiate trade agreements with more than 40 countries in just two short years – a nearly impossible task.

So how does this make you better off? Especially if you’re in the US?

Since the Brexit vote, the pound’s value has plunged to its lowest levels in three decades. Now you can buy £1 for close to $1.30 — instead of the pre-Brexit price of roughly $1.45. That translates to a 10% discount on the pound, or a 10% raise in the dollar’s value.

In other words, open your eyes to the UK and you could have a rare chance to get a 10% raise in the form of buying power, save tens of thousands of dollars on UK property or higher education, or even boost your income by double-digits.

How does that work? Here are a few examples of how you can take advantage of the cheapest pound values since the mid 1980s.

1. Save tens of thousands of dollars when you buy a UK homeWith the pound trading at a 10% discount to the US dollar, now may be a great time to buy property or retire in the UK. The average UK home price this summer has been around £205,000 according to Nationwide, which worked out to $297,250 just before Brexit. Now, with the pound trading close to $1.30, average UK home prices are down to $266,500 – meaning you’d pay a whopping $30,750 less for a typical UK home than if you had bought one before Brexit just a few weeks ago.

Need a mortgage to pay for it? There’s opportunity there too. Let’s say I want to take out a UK mortgage to buy a house for a bargain. On a £1,000 mortgage, what would have cost me $1,450 per month to pay before Brexit now costs just $1,300 per month if the pound trades at $1.30 – saving me $150 per month.

Better yet, I can lock in recent pound prices and make my mortgage payments at the discounted rate for up to three years by taking out a forward contract with World First USA. With the example above, that means I could save $5,400 over three years ($150 per month for 36 months)!

2. Get an Ivy League education in the UK for 20% lessLooking at Ivy League schools but don’t want to pay student loans forever? The UK should be near the top of your list.

US universities like Cornell, Dartmouth, and Yale are expected to charge more than $50,000 for tuition and other expenses for the upcoming academic year. Meanwhile in the UK, the prestigious Oxford University will charge less than £30,000 for tuition and fees for international students for the academic year, which would have translated to a relatively affordable $43,500 before Brexit.

Add in the 10% post-Brexit discount with the pound recently trading around $1.30, and the Oxford admission price would be just $39,000 for the year – which could save you up to $11,000 annually ($50,000 – $39,000) if you nixed the US Ivy League schools to go to Oxford instead.

Want to maximize your savings? As with the UK property deal, you can lock in these historically low pound exchange rates for up to three years by setting up a forward contract with World First USA and have us pay the university directly as frequently as you need.

3. Are you an expat earning a US salary? Get a 10% pay raise
It’s not all about savings with the pound being at record lows. Do you regularly earn a US salary, pension, or other income, but also live in the UK? If so, you could give yourself a double-digit pay raise by sending your US-based income to your UK bank account.

The pound at $1.30 means your US dollars are roughly 10% more valuable in the UK than they were before Brexit just weeks ago. Even better, your dollars are almost 20% more valuable across the pond at these rates than they were in June 2015 when Sterling traded for almost $1.60. That means at recent exchange rates, someone earning a $48,000 annual salary or pension could be sending £36,920 per year to themselves in the UK, compared to just £33,100 before Brexit and £30,000 in mid-2015.

4. The best time to travel and shop in the UK in 30 Years
The weaker pound means almost everything is cheaper in the UK in currency terms. Remember, your dollars could buy 10% more of anything in the UK than just before Brexit, and could stretch almost 20% further compared to June 2015. That means more buying power and potentially double-digit discounts for anything over there – be it for hotels, horses, 17th-century violins, one-of-a-kind art, Jaguars (the cars, not the animals!), or simple pub grub.

Can’t travel? No problem – you can shop from local UK merchants without ever leaving the US. Whether you’re buying from a boutique auction house in London or a 200-year old English antique and jewelry store, you can use a low-cost international payments provider like World First USA to convert your dollars into pounds and send your payments directly to a UK merchant.

The takeaway

Remember, the pound is trading at its lowest value compared to the US dollar in decades, and no one knows how long we have until this opportunity closes. Analysts are saying that if the UK regains its footing and re-establishes its trading partnerships, the pound could creep back to pre-Brexit levels over time. So click or call now to take advantage of these great deals while you can and lock in these historically-low rates today.

Christian has been covering the financial markets for the past several years, and has written analytical and educational articles on everything from foreign exchange and stock investing to financial sector trends. His articles have been featured on Investopedia, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, Business Insider, Nasdaq.com, and many other prominent sites. Before he became an editor, he worked in Austin's commercial banking industry for 7 years. Christian holds a B.B.A. in Finance from St. Edward's University in Austin.